Legendary producer Quincy Jones made headlines around the world last week, when he dismissed a comparison to Kanye West as a producer. Jones made the controversial statements during an interview with US Weekly last week, when the magazine said that Kanye West was similar to Jones due to the fact that everyone wants to work with the Hip-Hop producer.
“Did he write for a symphony orchestra? Does he write for a jazz orchestra? Come on, man. He’s just a rapper,” Quincy Jones said when being compared to Kanye West. “There’s no comparison. I’m not putting him down or making a judgement or anything, but we come from two different sides of the planet. I spent 28 years learning my first skill. I don’t rap. It’s not the same thing. A producer has to have some sort of skills that enable him to be a producer. It’s totally different to know what to do with 16 woodwinds you know from piccolos down to bass clarinet. It’s a whole different mindset. No comparison. None….I don’t think about him much. He’s a great rapper, but there are a lot of good rappers.”
Did Quincy Jones go too far in his assessment of Kanye West? For the record, Quincy Jones denied he was bashing Kanye West and said he thought of the rapper/producer as a “little brother.”
Super producer Just Blaze has also been behind some of the decade’s most memorable Hip-Hop records. Check out his thoughts on the Quincy/Kanye Controversy.
